05/26/2019
Dear Friends of the Sevier County Community Theatre Group,
Hey everyone—Mac here! It’s been a while! I wanted to send a few SCCTG updates your way. As summer is swiftly approaching, we have been asked by several of our awesome patrons about our upcoming productions…at this time, we are announcing a few exciting changes coming to the SCCTG! In light of new construction at our performance space at Gatlinburg-Pittman High School and as we restructure our group, we have decided to take a hiatus this summer. While we will not be performing anything this summer, we hope to be back and better than ever next summer and we look forward to tackling bigger and even more exciting projects than ever before! In the meantime, we encourage our patrons to visit Creative Theater in Pigeon Forge! Their groundbreaking work in the arts in our community continues to inspire us every single day and we know our audiences will love the amazing work that they are doing there!
Along with this announcement comes a handful of changes within the organization of our group. A few weeks ago, I graduated from Belmont University and accepted a year-long Performance Apprenticeship at Riverside Theatre in Vero Beach, Florida! With that, as of this summer, I am officially stepping down as the Producer and Artistic Director of the SCCTG. These past four years with SCCTG have been incredibly rewarding. What started as a fun little project to keep me going during my first summer of college quickly turned into one of the most amazing adventures of my life! I never imagined that the gang of fools with whom I’ve spent these past few summers would so quickly become some of my closest friends and I certainly didn’t dream that we would raise over $20,000 for the GPHS Drama Department just by doing what we love! This dream could not have been a reality without the help of so many names I know and don’t know, and I am forever in debt to those of you who have helped take us from Steel Magnolias in 2016 to Clue last summer and everything in between.
While I am sad to say goodbye (for now!) to this group, I am ELATED to announce our new Producer and Artistic Director—Sally Helton! You saw Sally last summer stealing the show as Colonel Mustard in Clue! Sally’s passion for promoting and producing the performing arts in our area is infectious and both Jeff and I know that SCCTG is going to be in good hands with her at the helm.
I am so excited for the future of the SCCTG, Creative Theater, and the beautiful emerging presence of theatre in our wonderful community! No matter where I go or where I’ll be, I am always going to be proud to claim SCCTG as my theatre and Sevier County as my home. Thank you for your laughter, tears, and applause these past three years! See you soon!
-Mac Ogle, Co-Founder SCCTG
